MANILA, Jan. 21 (PNA) — The Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) is encouraging public and private universities, research and development institutes (RDIs) and nonprofit science and technology (S&T) networks to submit research proposals for funding in calendar year 2015.
In an interview with the Philippines News Agency, Chief Science Research Specialist Albert Marino of PCIEERD’s Policy Coordination and Monitoring Division stated that the initiative is geared towards setting a policy that would ensure the safety and maintenance of land and sea transport systems.
“Specifically, we seek to develop a policy that would help establish a baseline data that will prolong the seaworthiness of our sea vessels. Most of our sea crafts only last for 20-30 years as far as safety is concerned. The challenge is how will we be able to sustain this for a long time?” Marino explained.
He disclosed that he had a meeting with officials of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) to orient them on the program and encourage them to incorporate successful research proposals on their policies.
Another endeavor that PCIEERD is pursuing is the development of an intelligent transport system in the country.
“An intelligent transport system would help ensure an efficient traffic management and improved mobility of people. This is very vital in the light of recent researches that our businesses have incurred significant costs because of the massive traffic jams happening in Metro Manila,” he said.
This concept can be realized through technological innovations such as global positioning system (GPS), modern traffic control systems, automatic passenger counters, among others.
Marino urged proponents that their researches should be directed towards harnessing the potential of emerging technologies, expand technology development and innovation for the industry and energy sectors, and develop S&T interventions and solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk reduction.
Furthermore, these proposals should be aligned to the PCIEERD’s research agenda which focuses on the government’s policy directions for rapid, inclusive and sustained economic growth; poverty reduction and empowerment of the poor and vulnerable; and integrity of the environment and climate change adaption and mitigation.
Funding grants will be prioritized for R&D proposals that fall under the following areas: 1) Appropriate Technologies for Industry Competitiveness; 2) Sustainable Energy; 3) Sustainable Mass Transport; and 4) Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction.
The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is approximately P 500,000,000 under the PCIEERD Grants-In-Aid. The agency anticipates R&D award ranging from approximately P 500,000 to P 10,000,000 of research agreements resulting from this announcement, subject to availability of funds and the quality of proposals received.
Moreover, PCIEERD anticipates up to approximately 40 research agreements under this initiative.
For this call for proposals, only those submitted through the PCIEERD-DOST e-Proposals submission will be accepted before the closing date on January 31, 2014. The complete package of the call for proposals and proposal forms can be downloaded at http://www.pcieerd.dost.gov.ph. (PNA)